Film and Television Entertainment BA (Hons)

About the course

The Film and Television Entertainment degree is for those who want to make magazine shows, comedies, chat shows and other studio-based programmes, as well as music, factual entertainment and constructed reality programming. Students are taught by industry professionals and typically spend 75% of their time on creative practice.

In the first year, students are introduced to all three pathways. In the second and third years, they specialise in entertainment and work towards a final degree project that acts as their calling card to industry.

Year 1

An introduction to film-making delivering an over-view of the genres and production formats film-makers encounter in their careers. Students work on three projects - one documentary, one fiction piece and one studio project. They each have the chance to direct and edit their own film.

Year 2

Students specialise in entertainment formats such as sitcoms, comedies, factual entertainment, magazine and chat shows. Students work in a team to complete two productions this year.

Year 3

Students concentrate on one project which demonstrates their creative ambitions. They are responsible for all aspects of studio-work, from conception and scripting to casting, studio directing and final presentation.

During the three years, students' film-making is supported by:

• A state-of-the-art 3-camera HD studio, recording in a tapeless environment and HD location filming.
• An introduction to pre-production, including the development of ideas, scripts, treatments and projects pitches.
• Professional development to project manage productions and negotiate the industry.
• The latest post-production techniques using FCP to create fantastic visuals and soundscapes.
• An in-depth series of lectures and seminars that analyse camera, lighting, sound and editing styles.

Why choose this course?

• The Film and Television Entertainment degree is for those who want to enter the world of television entertainment, whether it be formatted content (including magazine shows, topical chat shows, game shows and news presentation), location-based productions, sitcoms and sketch shows, and the growing area of factual entertainment.
• The degree is taught by industry professionals. They will prepare students for an innovative, fast-paced digital world of commercial broadcast and tapeless production.
• Students work in state of the art HD studio with 3-cameras, a dedicated gallery, green screens, portaprompts, tracks and dolly, jib arms, studio lighting, steadycam operation as well as on location with HD cameras.
• Post-production covers multi-camera editing, sound mastering, and broadcast colour correction with use of broadcast monitors and a specialist colour control surface.
• Each student makes his/her own entertainment projects in the TV Studio, on location or through a combination of the two.
• Find out for yourself and watch our video!
  
  View our students work on Flickr
  View UHFTV Flickr

Study routes

• Sandwich, 4 Years
• Full Time, 3 Years

Locations

• University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield

Careers

The creative industries are one of the fastest growing sectors of the UK economy and the course is committed to preparing students for the workplace. The Faculty has strong industry and professional links, with a majority of its staff actively involved in creative practice. This ensures that graduates are prepared for professional life in the media marketplace.

The aim of this degree is to develop confident, innovative professionals, capable of generating successful projects, conscious of creative, technical and financial considerations.

Career opportunities for successful graduates might include freelance or more permanent posts in programme making or related activities in independent film and TV companies. Students may also work in-house for major broadcasters. Alternatively, work could be found within the new media outlets being created by evolving distribution activity.

Teaching methods

This programme is intensively studio based. Typically, students:

• Direct their own shows in a high-speed tapeless HD studio environment.
• Learn industry standard budgeting, scheduling and project management skills.
• Create studio-based programming, including comedies, sketch shows and other formats. The challenge of casting actors, presenters and celebrities is explored. Students encounter studio production techniques, including the operation of studio cameras and sound, vision mixers, lighting racks, graphics and VTR equipment.
• Study the industry in relation to co-productions, sales and distribution. They also explore UK media law, contracts, copyright and music rights.
• Learn about emergent technologies of IPTV, podcasting and digital cinema.

Work Placement

Placements are a valuable means of establishing industrial contacts and gaining an insight into the commercial reality of a chosen discipline. We have a long history of students working with industry supplementing the taught university curriculum with real life on the job experience.

This has seen students working right across the creative industries sector: in graphic, product and interior design consultancies, working as artist in residence in galleries, producing props and sets for the film & TV industry, shadowing teachers in education, working with commercial photographers through to students working right across the Music industry.

We expect students interested in obtaining a work placement; to be proactive, to self-initiate this interest and to communicate and work with programme staff in their identification of companies and organisations that are able to provide the appropriate range of experiences and opportunities.

We value the opportunity and benefits of the placement experience highly and as such, we encourage all students to consider obtaining a placement as part of their course. However, we recognise that this may not be a viable option for a number of reasons. In addition, we are not able to guarantee that all students will undertake a work placement as part of their studies.

Professional Accreditations

Skillset Media Academy

Structure

Year 1

Core Modules

• Camera, Sound and TV Studio - Film and TV Production

  This module introduces students to the basic techniques of video photography, sound recording and TV studio systems. In an introduction to camerawork, students typically encounter shot selection and storyboarding, staging and visualisation, camera operation and functions, lenses and filters and the operation of grip equipment. Students also typically encounter an introduction to lighting styles, colour temperature, 3 point lighting, handling lights, power sources and transformers, as well as Health and Safety issues. In an introduction to sound recording, students typically investigate the use of microphones, sound waves and sampling, monitoring and mixing, as well as logging and project management. In an introduction to TV studio systems and technology, students work in groups developing the collaborative skills which are so important to media production, while developing technical understanding and confidence in their practical creative skills. At each stage, students undertake coursework assignments in the role of director and in technical roles as team members.

• Story and Script

  Narratives of one kind or another are key elements of modern media. Storytelling and character are at the heart of Film and Television. This module looks at the way in which an idea becomes a story, becomes a script of some sort used to organise and inform the film and television production and direction process. Contemporary ideas about stories, characters and narratives and how they work in a range of media are examined and explored. Creative writing activities develop the students' abilities to express ideas, stories, characters and their familiarity with the conventions and formats of scripts commonly used in Film and Television.

• Film and Television: Histories and Contexts

  This module takes a historical perspective to enable students to understand how film and TV programmes are shaped by the social, political, economic, cultural and professional contexts in which they are made. Its focuses on the cultural landscape of the 20th Century and the key individuals, artefacts and practices of film and TV production that emerged during this time. A programme of lectures, seminars, tutorials and screenings will introduce a series of perspectives on Film and Television that begins with the invention of cinema at the end of the 19th century and concludes with contemporary digital media practices. Areas under consideration may include production studies and industrial practices; national cinemas; television franchising and formatting; aesthetic practices and genre. Alongside discipline specific knowledge, students will develop skills in information handling and communication, skills in visual and critical analysis of both artefacts and ideas and deploy academic conventions of reference.

• Film and TV Post Production: Non-Linear Editing

  This module introduces students to basic techniques of non-linear video editing using appropriate studio software. Students investigate styles of picture editing and are introduced to offline and online processes, the roles of DV, HDV, SD, HD, film and other formats, systems for managing digital workflow, approaches to colour correction and the handling of hardware peripherals. Students investigate sound editing styles, the pacing of visual imagery to music, track-laying dialogue and sound effects, recording narration and other voice material, music selection and rights clearance, as well as the use of sound software systems for the final mix.

• Film and TV Media Industries: Professional Development 1

  A series of lectures, workshops, seminars and tutorials designed to introduce students to the professional environment of the film and television industries. This module covers a wide range of topics including production management and the scheduling and budgeting of a production project.

Optional

Year 2

Core Modules

• Film and TV Production

  This module enhances the students' understanding of documentary/entertainment/fiction production. Those students who intend to specialise in fiction typically investigate strategies for directing drama, working with actors, using more advanced camera and lighting techniques, grip equipment such as dollies and cranes, fiction sound recording and mixing. Students consider the applications of production design, locations, wardrobe and make-up. Those students who intend to specialise in documentary typically investigate strategies for directing documentary and current affairs projects, selecting participants and interviewees, documentary camerawork and sound technique, tapeless field production and the integration of CGI and archive material. Students are introduced to the requirements of docudrama and re-enactment requiring casting, production design, wardrobe and make-up. Students undertake factual coursework assignments in the role of director, as well as in technical roles as team members. Those students who intend to specialise in entertainment typically investigate strategies for directing both factual entertainment programmes and some studio based projects. Typically they will work on formats, acquiring presenters and contributors and while in the studio, they will work on more advanced skills in studio operations, lighting, sound and grip equipment, actual and virtual sets, wardrobe and make-up. Students may also learn to input graphics and other feeds, as well as the basics of studio broadcast technology. Students undertake coursework assignments in the role of director as well as in technical roles as team members. Depending on availability, students may undertake relevant work experience or an alternative assignment in response to a 'live' project, competition brief or a collaboration with an industry client. Alternatively, students may undertake a faculty work experience instead of this module, subject to agreement with the Programme Tutor.

• Pre-Production in Film and TV

  This module develops the students' storytelling abilities in the context of Film and Television production. Students sharpen their critical awareness and develop their own projects for filming. They typically examine the development process for a project, assess treatments and scripts and develop their understanding of structure and the role of genre, narrative, character, presenters, actors and contributors. Students are also introduced to managerial and legal issues in contracting scriptwriters, actors and crew and the process of rights acquisition in music, archive and other material.

• Film and Television: Cultures and Aesthetics

  This module aims to encourage students to see contextual studies as a vital tool to develop well-informed and innovative production practice in Film and Television. A programme of lectures, seminars, tutorials and screenings provides students with the opportunity to encounter a wide range of international film and television programmes and a selection of media theories, debates and critical perspectives to interrogate them. The module will focus on developing student’s understanding of critical debates around concepts such as representation, ideology, production, consumption and regulation shape media aesthetics and cultures in relation to student’s specific pathways in Fiction, Factual and Entertainment media. To complement discipline-specific studies, this module aims to provide students with a repertoire of study skills of research and enquiry, skills in visual and critical analysis of both artefacts and ideas and communications skills in written and verbal forms including the protocols of academic reference.

• Film and TV Post Production: Sound and Vision Post

  This module extends the students' understanding of techniques of non-linear video editing on appropriate studio software systems. Students typically compare the editing of fiction, factual and entertainment narratives and examine dramatic, comic and factual styles and timings. They explore areas of sound post-production like dialogue editing, ADR, Foley and sound effects, the use of music, stereo and surround sound, as well as foreign language dubbing and international sales tracks. They examine techniques for grading and colour correction and the integration of CGI and Visual FX. They review the delivery materials commonly required at the end of post-production. In coursework, students complete the editing of their post-production assignments.

• Film and TV Media Industries: Professional Development 2

  A series of lectures, workshops, seminars and tutorials designed to develop students' awareness of the media marketplace. The module covers a range of topics including the impacts of media globalization, the role of niche markets, film and television finance and business models, co-production, marketing and distribution. Course work includes an analysis of a production company and planning a marketing campaign. Alternatively, students may undertake a faculty work experience instead of this module, subject to agreement with the Programme Tutor.

Optional

• Professional Work Experience 15: Screen

  Students may identify a work experience opportunity or have a work experience suggested to them. Before starting students meet with the Programme Leader or their nominated tutor, to agree the impending placement. All aspects of the intended experience are addressed from health and safety to client confidentiality and students are given guidance on behaviour and how to manage expectations. Proposals need to identify an outline work programme, the number of days in placement and the main learning outcomes; and are subject to agreement of the Programme Leader.

Year 3

Core Modules

• Sandwich Year (Creative Arts)

  The optional 'Sandwich' placement year may be undertaken between the levels 5 and 6. Students undertake the placement within a commercial, public or not for profit setting that is able to provide an appropriate learning experience related to the creative and cultural industries. A placement could take a variety of forms, including: * working in an external organisation; * working with a University company or professional team within the University; * self-employment within defined context and externally refereed. The placement duration would typically be sustained for at least 48 weeks, though may be sustained for a full year. While the Faculty/School actively supports the placement process, ultimately it is the placement provider that will agree to manage and select students, normally through an interview process. During the placement a member of the academic staff will be assigned to the student as a tutor and will monitor the student's progress during the placement period.

Optional

Year 4

Core Modules

• Film and TV Pre-Production Project

  In this module the student proposes, plans and independently develops a major project in the field of documentary/entertainment/fiction production. Subject to the approval of the course tutor, the main outcome of this module will be a completed script, schedule and budget for the major project. The project proposal may be based on an individually generated idea or may be developed in creative response to a 'real world', professional context in collaboration with a client. The module typically includes researching and developing an idea, a format or a script, planning a production schedule, budgeting the project, assembling cast, crew and contributors and seeking clearances and consents where appropriate.

• Film and TV Dissertation/Media Research Project

  Building upon work undertaken at level two, this module enables students to conduct a critical analysis or media research project on a media-related topic relevant to their film and television practice. The content of the module is student-led and tutorials, workshops and plenary sessions will be organised to help students carry out appropriate research and apply academic protocols in the analysis and presentation of their material. Emphasis is given to the analysis of appropriate social, cultural, economic, historical and aesthetic issues and to the development of sustained and critically well-informed arguments that are germane to the student's chosen topic. Students will write a detailed proposal for their final year dissertation or media research project, which is submitted to the Programme Tutor for approval or amendment before undertaking the project. The student's dissertation or media research project will explore an area related conceptually or institutionally to their primary field of study and show evidence of systematic research and reflection. The assessed element of this module consists of a 6000 word essay.

• Film and TV Production and Post-Production: Entertainment Project

  In this module students have the opportunity to display the extent of their knowledge and understanding of entertainment production. Students can engage in a period of sustained creative activity, offering a primary platform upon which to demonstrate their abilities and potential to a professional audience. Students will be responsible for planning and directing a major project with the assistance of fellow students as crew. They will record, edit and post-produce this project for completion and delivery in the manner of a professional production. Students have the option to work with an external company or agency to fulfil a substantial collaborative project following a professional client brief. Students will also be expected to assist as crew members on at least two major projects other than their own, as approved by the tutor, in order to develop their technical and teamwork skills.

• Film & TV Media Industries: Professional Development 3

  The module delivers a series of lectures, seminars and workshops designed to consolidate the students' understanding of the operation of the media industries and their professional practices. The learning experience and the taught content of the module will include material provided by visiting speakers, which will heighten the students' awareness of the film and television industries. The module addresses career management and the development of presentation and communication skills in preparation for job interviews. During this module, students may undertake work experience of their own arranging with a media production company. Subject to agreement with the programme tutor, students may submit evidence of work experience as part of their assessment for this module. Qualifying work experience can be undertaken either during the previous summer vacation or during term time. In addition to preparation for the world of work, students are introduced to the procedures necessary for continuation of their studies at postgraduate level.

Optional

Fees & funding

Fees 2013

UK/EU Students

Full time: £9,000 for the 2013 academic year

International Students

Discounts are available for International students if payment is made in full at registration

View detailed information about tuition fees

Additional course costs

In addition to the fees there are some compulsory course attached to this course:

Year 1
1TB FireWire 800 external hard drive - £100-£180
Headphones – over the ear (not in-ear buds) - £30-£40
Clapperboard – white acrylic - £30-£40

Year 2
Film related consumables - £60-£100

Year 3
Film production costs (dependent on project) - £200-£400

Scholarships

• National Scholarship Programme

Find out more about scholarships for UK/EU and international students

Other financial support

Find out more about other financial support available to UK and EU students

Living costs / accommodation

The University of Hertfordshire offers a great choice of student accommodation, on campus or nearby in the local area, to suit every student budget.

View detailed information about our accommodation

How to apply